1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus and method for service mobile node decision; and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for service mobile node decision based on user's service usage history information when a service user owning a plurality of heterogeneous wired/wireless nodes wants to change a current node, without stopping or disconnecting a service in use, in ALL-IP network environment.
2. Description of Related Art
Networks which can transmit data and voice have been developed and advanced in diverse forms. A single mobile node has received a service through a single technology, but a currently commercialized node can receive several services. Session mobility for ensuring the mobility of such a node means that a currently progressing session is transferred to a network or device to be newly accessed, when a change to a new access network or device occurs while a current multimedia service session is in progress. Service continuity refers to providing a currently used service seamlessly, without session disconnection during the session mobility. The service continuity becomes a very important factor in terms of the guarantee of a quality of service (QoS) which is provided to a user.
In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) which is an organization for 3rd generation standardization of Europe, the standardization for guaranteeing the continuity between access networks among multimedia service continuities was established, and the standardization for guaranteeing the continuity between nodes is now in progress.
Examples include PS-CS continuity considering a case in which a media session is transferred from a circuit-switched (CS) network to a packet-switched (PS) network between a PS network domain and a CS network domain, or its opposite case, PS-PS continuity considering a session mobility within a PS network, a node mobility supporting continuity while moving multimedia components between different nodes of the same user, and a partial session mobility supporting a whole or partial mobility of media components.
Upon mobility between access networks, information of the session mobility target network interface among two or more network interfaces of the node in the same node environment is previously perceived, and a session mobility request including the information is transmitted to an application server (AS). The application server performs a session mobility procedure according to the information of the session mobility target network interface, which is included in the session mobility request. Since the information of the session mobility target network interface, which is included in the session mobility request, is network interface information of the same node environment, it can be considered as information the node has previously known. Thus, it is unnecessary to provide the information to the user prior to the session mobility request.
When an access network changes according to the mobility of the node having multiple network interfaces, a session is transferred to a different network interface of the same node. However, upon session mobility between nodes, a node, which is in progress of a current session among a plurality of nodes used by the same user, previously perceives session mobility target node information, and transmits session mobility request, including the above-mentioned information, to an application server. The user using a plurality of nodes should select a session mobility target node prior to session mobility request, and previously perceive the corresponding node information. However, the session mobility control procedure has been performed, without considering the node having a high session mobility probability among a plurality of nodes.
As one example, location information of a node which is in progress of session may be collected and a node adjacent to the location of the above node may be arranged at a high level. As another example, a newly registered node may be arranged at a high level. As another example, a service mobile node is notified to a user by arranging a node similar to the terminal, which is now in progress of session, at a high level.
However, since the above-mentioned mobile node decision method uses simple basic information, a user may be dissatisfied when service continuity is provided to a user through service mobility. Therefore, when the information of the service mobile node is provided, a service mobile terminal which is most suitable for the service being used among the plurality of nodes is decided and notified. This is the most important information in the session mobility control for the real service movement. In addition, there is a need for techniques which can increase user's service satisfaction.